Storage battery plate separator



Feb. 16,- 1954 E. CLARK STORAGE BATTERY PLATE SEPARATOR Filed Sept. 19,1952 FIG.

INVENTOR EDWARD CLARK,

- ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v STORAGEBATTERY PLATE SEPARATOR Edward Clark, Chicago, Ill. ApplicationSeptember 19, 1952, Serial No. 310,478

(Cl. 136-145i 6 Claims.

This invention relates to storage battery separators and moreparticularly to means for constructing and repairing such separators atreduced cost and increased efiectiveness. Heretofore it has been usualto construct such se arators of wood and in the preparation of such woodand separators, it has been essential that the natural acids and certainother deleterious elements be extracted .through alkaline baths, steamtreatment and the like which not only consumed time and materials, butoften resulted in the destruction of the wood fibers and bonds andindeed prevented the use of certain woods altogether.

The herein disclosed process, material and apparatus eliminates thesepreparation steps and so provides for the protection of the separatormaterial while in use that oxidation and charring is entirelyeliminated. It thus permits the use of any wood or other material havingsufiicient mechanical strength when supplemented by my invention, and atthe same time, completely eliminates costly special machinery andelaborate processes While completely neutralizing any defects which thenatural material may have, or which elements absorbed by the wood mightintroduce.

It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a separator whichwill withstand vibration without cracking and at the same time beflexible enough to adjust itself as a permanent insulator even thoughthe plates be expanded or twisted by heat and chemical change. Myimproved separator, by its permanence also aids in reducing sulphationof the grids and so supports the grid active material that the life ofthe whole battery is extended.

This invention also provides all of the above advantages without theintroduction of complicated or expensive materials or apparatus, such aspressure vessels, ovens and the like heretofore thought necessary.

In the appended drawing- Fig. 1 is a view of a storage battery separatorcore having the applicants material and process applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a storage battery separator uponwhich the applicants process has been practiced and showing thecompleted separator, certain lines having been added for purposes ofdescription, as will appear.

Referring now to Fig. 1, G indicates generally a spray gun of the typegenerally well known to the art and having a removable jet piece ID,

a handle ll, control valve 12, air supply pipe I4,

gun mixing chamber I 6 and a connection l1 leading from the solutioncontainer tank #8. The internal construction and operation of such gunsis well known to those skilled in this particular art and for purposesof brevity, description will be eliminated here. Suffice it to say thatthe air introduced through pipe 14 serves to induct and mix the solutionfrom tank 18 through chamber 16 to nozzle It when valve 1-2 is operated.Itwill be appreciated that control of pressure jll will control thespeed of ejection of solution from tank 56 and the speed of solutionparticles in the spray 20. Through the control of such particles, it ispossible to obtain a uniform preselected impact upon wood core 30 of thebattery separator, gun G being swept from position G-l of Fig. 2 toposition G-2 so that the ridges 32 and the like of wood core 30 arecoated upon all sides.

It will be understood that in the performance of my invention, I preferto effect an immediate sealing coat over the wood core 30 and to applythereover five or six subsequent coats whereby the coating material isthoroughly afiixed, molded and bonded into an impervious fihn coveringthe wood core completely and sealing it not only against externalfluids, but against the extrusion of any internal fluids or materials itmay contain.

I am informed that there have been previous attempts at coating woodcores with rubber and the like by dipping and brushing certain partsthereof. However, my present process contemplates a bond between thewood fibers and the first coat and the use of vinyl chloride acetatecopolymer impacted at a solution speed obtained by approximately poundsair pressure at the gun nozzle and the immediate impacting and combiningwith the first said coating of a substantial number of coatings, allcombining with and further strengthening and supplementing the originalcoating until it approaches a thickness of .035 inch and a weight ofabout 2 ounces per square foot so that the storage battery core materialis enrobed in a film whose tensile strength approaches 1400 pounds persquare inch but which is suificiently flexible and elastic to allow forany movement of the wood under temperature changes while flexible andrugged enough to accommodate pressure of the storage battery plates andof irregularities in the storage battery grids without puncture.

It will thus be clear that woods heretofore unusable as storage batteryseparator material become usable and that acids and alkalies nor- 3mally contained in such woods or which may have contaminated them instorage will no longer have any afiect upon their performance as storagebattery separators or upon the electrolyte components used in theoperating storage battery.

What I claim is:

1. A storage battery plate separator impermeable coating of vinylchloride acetate copolymer applied under impact and having an appliedthickness of approximately thirty five one thousandths of an inch.

2. A storage battery plate separator having a wooden core completelyencased in an impermeable vinyl chloride acetate copolymer film impactedin bonded layers thereover.

3. The method of processing wooden storage battery separators whichcomprises drying the natural wood without internal acid extraction andsealing the substantially dry wood in a nonstrippable impermeable filmof vinyl plastic to permanently seal the same against battery and woodacid interchange.

4. In a storage battery separator the combination of a core piece havingnatural acids and other materials deleterious to the usual storagebattery acid action therein with an impervious plastic film bonded tothe entire exterior surface of said core and encasing said natural acidsand materials permanently within said core and against interchange withsaid storage battery acid and the substances with which it acts aselements of the aforesaid battery.

5. In a storage battery separator a wood core having six layers of vinylchloride acetate film thereover, the first said layer impacted with saidcore and each succeeding layer impacted with the layer beneath so thatthe whole forms an impermeable heterogeneous mass.

6. In a storage battery separator, a core piece of natural untreatedsubstantially dry wood base material encased in impacted vinyl chlorideacetate copolymer plastic applied thereto by pressure impact sprayingthe surfaces thereof so that the said core material is permanentlyisolated from battery action, battery fluid and reaction between its ownsubstance, substances entrained and combined therewith and other batterycomponents.

EDWARD CLARK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,053,058 Wuillot Sept. 1, 1936 2,569,361 Willihnganz Sept.25, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 731,810 France Sept. 8,1932

1. A STORAGE BATTERY PLATE SEPARATOR IMPREMEABLE COATING OF VINYLCHLORIDE ACETATE COPOLYMER APPLIED UNDER IMPACT AND HAVING AN APPLIEDTHICKNESS OF APPROXIMATELY THIRTH FIVE ONE THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH.